Is Sophie A Mary Sue? (Essay)

4th Sign: Without Flaw

Mary Sues have little to no flaws. Usually they are very moral, or perhaps "goody-goody."

This is the main sign that I feel Sophie's character has grown out of. In the early books, Sophie is the typical moral protagonist who always does the right thing. For instance:

"She'd broken the rules for Telepaths.

"Even worse: She'd cheated.

"Just thinking the word made her skin crawl. From now on, anything she accomplished at Foxfire would be because she cheated on her alchemy exam. Could she really live with that?

"No" (Keeper of the Lost Cities, 247).

And, "Seeing how she'd disappointed everyone made her ill. She didn't deserve to get off easy" (KotLC, 251).

The one time Sophie does something strictly amoral (perhaps I am wrong in this; if so, comment below any other times), she almost immediately apologizes. Sophie is allergic to breaking the rules, apparently (except when it comes to the Black Swan, I suppose). She's also incredibly forgiving; when someone apologizes, she generally forgives them pretty quickly (with the exception of Fitz, who she forgives immediately in Exile, and Oralie, who she has yet to forgive). When it comes to big things, like Keefe running away and betraying her trust, or Fitz pushing her to her limits in Legacy, forgiveness takes a bit longer than usual—but that's normal. That doesn't make her a bad person; that makes her a person.

In any case, Sophie isn't a bad guy. She has morals (probably because an MG story with unjustifiably evil main characters would get the child readers bad ideas). However, she does develop some flaws (particularly in Legacy, which simultaneously makes me love Legacy for doing that and also hate it for being a dramafest). Here's a quote:

"Sophie curled her knees into her chest, focusing on the subtle swaying of the swing in the cool ocean breeze. It made it easier for her to say, 'I guess it's because I'm being selfish. And I'm supposed to be better than that'" (Legacy, 354).

As I'm sure you all know, this quote is talking about Sophie's decision to not get her abilities reset—mainly because she doesn't think she should show the Black Swan trust when they won't tell her who her biological parents are. It's pretty petty, but that's okay, since it shows that Sophie isn't the "special snowflake" some people claim she is throughout the entire series.

There's also that moment when Dex is literally forced to make her the ability restrictor and then get her to wear it, and she blames him (which is way more petty to me, but I may just be salty). Then again, she forgives him at the end of the book, and all is well. The end.

So in this case, I'm gonna have to give Sophie the point here. Sure, she's a little flawless in the beginning of the books, but I think she's gotten better, and I can't overlook that.